Does this 13" rMBP configuration seem good?

I'm going to be buying my first Mac and have decided to go with the 13 inch MacBook Pro with retina

I'm am planning to get the 256gb model with the following upgrades:
-2.9 ghz i5 (instead of standard 2.7)
-16 gb of RAM

My goal is to build a computer that
-can perform basic Internet browsing and document editing quietly and speedily
-will have the power necessary to run DAWs such as Logic Pro (no intense recording or layering, just moderate level music creation)
-can play low to moderate graphics games decently (indie games, Diablo, etc...)

My concerns are that the upgrade to the faster i5 will make the computer hot and loud but I don't know if it will make a difference.

Anyways, how does the configuration sound? As an inexperienced Mac user and someone who doesn't know too much about computers I would love to know what you guys think.

The slight clockrate bump will make very little difference (in both temperature and performance). The base model has more than enough power for the applications you mentioned. You'll also probably not need 16GB for these applications.

The slight clockrate bump will make very little difference (in both temperature and performance). The base model has more than enough power for the applications you mentioned. You'll also probably not need 16GB for these applications.

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Thanks!
Because I do have the money do you think it would be a bad idea to get upgrades anyway? The reason I would do this is because I do not intend on upgrading for four years or so from this Mac. Other than price would there be any downsides to getting the upgrades?

Thanks!
Because I do have the money do you think it would be a bad idea to get upgrades anyway? The reason I would do this is because I do not intend on upgrading for four years or so from this Mac. Other than price would there be any downsides to getting the upgrades?

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Thanks!
Because I do have the money do you think it would be a bad idea to get upgrades anyway? The reason I would do this is because I do not intend on upgrading for four years or so from this Mac. Other than price would there be any downsides to getting the upgrades?

Click to expand...

but no upsides either. Unless you use it the RAM is wasted, and the same goes for CPU. The only thing that is worth it in my opinion is more storage space and the 512GB version comes with 8GB and the 2.9GHz processor anyway.

Thanks!
Because I do have the money do you think it would be a bad idea to get upgrades anyway? The reason I would do this is because I do not intend on upgrading for four years or so from this Mac. Other than price would there be any downsides to getting the upgrades?

Click to expand...

I'm looking at buying something similar.. I wasn't going to upgrade the processor, but I want atleast 256 gb ssd...

Trying to decide if I want to do 16gb of ram with 256 gb ssd, or pay about $100 more, stick with 8 gb of ram and get the 512 gb ssd... I figure I will have to spend another ~$70 on a portable external drive if I get the 256 gb ssd.

I will be coding and (potentially) running VMs. Little to no gaming though...

I would love to run several VMs... worried that 8 gb won't be enough, but also that 256 gb ssd will be gone quickly. I guess I could just forget about using multiple VMs at once? It would just be a hobby thing anyways.

I have a 2009 mbp with 4gb of ram that I'm finally getting rid of... My VM usage on it made the thing move as slow as molasses So, I too, want to keep this computer for 4+ years.

I'm looking at buying something similar.. I wasn't going to upgrade the processor, but I want atleast 256 gb ssd...

Trying to decide if I want to do 16gb of ram with 256 gb ssd, or pay about $100 more, stick with 8 gb of ram and get the 512 gb ssd... I figure I will have to spend another ~$70 on a portable external drive if I get the 256 gb ssd.

I will be coding and (potentially) running VMs. Little to no gaming though...

I would love to run several VMs... worried that 8 gb won't be enough, but also that 256 gb ssd will be gone quickly. I guess I could just forget about using multiple VMs at once? It would just be a hobby thing anyways.

I have a 2009 mbp with 4gb of ram that I'm finally getting rid of... My VM usage on it made the thing move as slow as molasses So, I too, want to keep this computer for 4+ years.

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I'm in the same exact boat as you now 512 and 8 or 256 and 16
To me it seems as if the 16gb of ram would add a performance boost while the bigger sad would not.

I will be coding and (potentially) running VMs. Little to no gaming though...

I would love to run several VMs... worried that 8 gb won't be enough, but also that 256 gb ssd will be gone quickly. I guess I could just forget about using multiple VMs at once? It would just be a hobby thing anyways.

Click to expand...

What kind of guest OSs are you thinking about running? Simple Ubuntu Server VMs can run with as little as 512MB RAM, so you can easily run multiple of those on an 8GB machine. But as soon as you add a GUI, bigger applications, or use Windows/OS X guests, you need at least 3-4GB per VM. I use VMs (mostly multiple Linux guests) for development and when I use my 8GB MBA it sometimes starts swapping. On my 16GB MBP I never have a problem.

I'm in the same exact boat as you now 512 and 8 or 256 and 16
To me it seems as if the 16gb of ram would add a performance boost while the bigger sad would not.

Click to expand...

Check this thread for how much RAM you need, it only boosts performance if you run out and in OSX with RAM compression 8GB can act like up to 12GB and unless you have 10 apps open at the same time and 50 tabs in safari etc or lots of VM's you just won't be maxing it out.

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